An Unexpected Journey
by HolyKnightsofTheRoundTable
Summary: Who would have thought that you could be reincarnated while still being alive? Not me for sure. Especially when the person I ended up being was one of Ash's greatest rivals in the Sinnoh region. Well one thing's for certain, I'm definitely going to aim for the top and become the strongest while messing with Ash and his friends along the way. ABANDONED
1. I'm Who?

What the hell? There was no way this was happening. It had to be a dream.

Memories belonging to someone else began to pour into my mind, filling it with that person's dreams, feelings, and past. There was nothing I could do but watch the scenes play out, wondering when they would all end.

We were in a stadium in the first memory and in the center of the stadium was a battlefield that reminded me of the ones used in the Pokemon anime. The symbol in the center of the battlefield even looked like the shape of a Pokeball.

Standing on opposite sides of the battlefield were two men. One of them had black eyes and long purple hair while the other was older-looking, with black eyes and brown hair. To my shock and surprise, standing in front of each them were behemoth-like creatures.

You've got to be kidding me.

One of them had purple scales and looked like a giant scorpion-looking creature, with huge sharp claws, while the other one was a golem-like creature, with its body completely made out of brown rocks. Drapion and Regirock, I realized.

Drapion soon collapsed onto the field, obviously knocked out of battle.

"Turtwig."

Looking to my side and standing on a platform next to me was a small, turtle-like creature, with a brown shell covering its body. Turtwig, one of the three Starter Pokemon of the Sinnoh region, I recognized easily enough.

"No!" The older trainer shouted, who I now remembered to be Pyramid King Brandon of the Battle Frontier. "I think I've seen enough of your battle, challenger! The only good thing about your battle was that it was clever and nicely organized. Where does your own unique strength lie?"

"His own unique strength?" The voice belonged to the person who's memories I was currently watching.

How was this even possible? Why was I experiencing this person's memories?

I wasn't dead, that much I was certain of. So why was this happening? Not to mention that most of these memories were from an anime show for crying out loud! Seriously, I definitely would have remembered watching a real Pokemon battle in real life, but it was impossible because they weren't real. This had to be some kind of prank or I really had just snapped and had completely lost sense of what was real.

Come on, wake up already! Please just let this all be some weird, fucked up dream that I was having.

The scene soon changed and we were in a forest. A small, cicada-like Pokemon, with two pairs of wing, slammed against a tree before a Pokeball was tossed at it, sucking it inside.

Enough with the fucking Pokemon flashbacks already! I was just repeating myself at that point, frustrated that I couldn't do anything but watch.

I wasn't being reincarnated was I? If I was, it didn't make any sense, since I knew for certain that I was not dead yet. Still, it seemed more and more likely as the memories kept pouring in. The person whose memories I was experiencing, only cared about becoming stronger, vowing to become nothing like his older brother.

"Chimchar, look at would you did."

Breaking away from my own thoughts, I was surprised to see a chimpanzee-looking Pokemon, with orange fur, standing in front of me, looking exhausted. There was bits of flames burning around them. Chimchar, I recognized easily enough, another one of the three Sinnoh Starter Pokemon. They weren't very common out in the wild, and were very rare, mostly seen with their trainers.

It was at that moment that I realized whose memories I was experiencing. Of all the people it could have been, this guy was the one I least expected to be.

A Pokeball was raised within my vision, pointed at Chimchar. "Come with me."

"Chimchar?"

Finally the memories stopped and began to dissolve, blinding me as a flash of white light engulfed me.

At least I didn't have to sit through all of these pointless flashbacks anymore. What a weird dream, but at least I was finally waking up.

I wasn't going to mention this to anyone. Hopefully when I woke up, I would forget all of this and never think about this shit again.

It was all just a dream, man, none of this was real.

… If only that were the case.

* * *

Are you kidding me?

Of all the people this could have happened to, why did it have to be me?

Gazing into my reflection on the water, I couldn't believe my eyes. Staring back at me was a smug-looking guy, with black eyes and short purple hair. He wore a long sleeved purple jacket and long black pants. This was the body of a young boy, not a man. Aren't you supposed to start out as a baby when you're reincarnated?

I still couldn't believe that I was using the word reincarnation. It was a word I never thought I would use in a situation like this. Not to mention who the person was that I had been reincarnated into.

I had to stop myself from screaming or panicking as I stared into the face of Paul, one of in my opinion, Ash's strongest rivals in the series. The guy could have easily defeated Ash in the Sinnoh League had it not been for the writers of the show holding Paul back from using all of his strongest Pokemon on his team.

The guy was basically like most competitive Pokemon gamers, using strong and fully evolved Pokemon on their teams.

Did I forget to mention that I was in Pokemon, not in one of the cool shows like High School DxD, One Piece, Fairy Tail, or any other show out there? Of all the places I could have been stuck in, why did it have to be Pokemon?

Now I was really starting to wish that I would wake up already.

Sure it had been a childhood fantasy of mine to experience the world of Pokemon in real life, but that was a long time ago. Now though, I couldn't really care that much about Pokemon anymore. But to be stuck in the world of Pokemon now, never thought that would happen to me, especially in Paul's body no less.

This was Paul we were talking about here, the guy who only caught strong Pokemon and released those to be too weak for his standards. Honestly though, I didn't mind the way he did things, just the way he treated Pokemon, especially Chimchar.

Chimchar was wasted on the likes of Ash, as he would no doubt stop using him after the Sinnoh League, but with Paul he could have easily become the strongest Infernape out there if Paul had adapted and learned to treat Chimchar the right way. Paul most likely realized that when he had lost to Ash in the Sinnoh League to Infernape.

If this truly was all real and happening, I wasn't going to make the same mistake that Paul did. He only made Ash stronger by releasing Chimchar and allowing him to capture it.

Sure it was screwing with cannon, but who cares. I was in control now and was going to become the strongest trainer out there.

Why make your rivals stronger when you could become stronger instead? That was a mistake Paul had made when he had released Chimchar in front of Ash, giving him the opportunity to capture it. Ash wasn't even that great of a protagonist anyways, with how the writers made him, always losing and always being set to level one at the start of a new journey.

If anybody ever wonders, I do not care much for Ash at all. He was a lucky S.O.B, and that was it. All the Pokemon that Ash ever caught were wasted on him, especially his Charizard.

It sucked that I couldn't catch Ash's Charizard instead, as it was obvious that I was in the Sinnoh region. Not that it would matter anyways since Ash rarely used Pokemon he caught in a previous region in his league matches.

Luckily I had a while to prepare for the Sinnoh League if the memories of Paul were anything to go by. He had just caught Chimchar, which meant that I still had time to befriend Chimchar and make him mine, not Ash's.

The only problem was the rest of Paul's Pokemon and his older brother Reggie. They would no doubt find it strange with the way I planned on treating Chimchar compared to their original training methods with Paul.

Being someone else was going to be a lot harder than I thought. Man, why couldn't I have gotten thrown into this world as myself and not Paul? It would be a lot easier than trying to act like someone else.

At least I wasn't stuck as Ash for the rest of my life. That was a plus side to this situation at least.

Of course that still didn't really help the situation that I was in. Becoming the strongest would have to wait. For now I needed to figure out a way to be Paul while also trying to change his character to adapt to Chimchar's need without confusing Paul's Pokemon or brother.

Not to mention that Paul also had other Pokemon he had caught and trained other than the ones seen in the show. After all, Paul wasn't a beginning trainer, but one who had already journeyed across the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions. He probably had some more powerful Pokemon in his reserves that he never really used to focus on training the ones he got in the Sinnoh region.

And unlike Ash, Paul would actually use some of those other Pokemon in his Sinnoh League matches and that was exactly what I was going to do as well. Ash wouldn't know what hit him when he met the new and improved Paul.

Whatever being had thrown me into this mess was going to regret their decision.

Ash, Tobias, the Sinnoh League, the Elite Four, and the Champion Cynthia. I was going to defeat them all and show them all just how strong I could become with no one holding me back.

Just like in the games, I was going to conquer the entire region and become the next Champion of Sinnoh. With the Pokemon that Paul caught and the ones we would soon be catching, no one would stand in our way.

It also couldn't hurt if I caught some of the Pokemon that Ash and his friends would encounter like Croagunk, Buizel, and Spiritomb. Seriously, it made no sense that Paul never caught Buizel due to his reputation as a powerful Pokemon. I was going to take any chance I could get to make my rivals weaker than their cannon counterparts.

Sure all of this was rather sudden for me and unexpected, but I was going to make the most out of the situation I was in. Being stuck as Paul was just a challenge I was going to have to overcome.

It certainly was going to be a lot more interesting compared to the boring life I had before.

I think I'm going to like it here.

Look out Sinnoh for I'm about to shake things up a bit!

* * *

 **Hey there guys. This is my first time writing a story in a first-person perspective and I decided to try it out and see how it goes. I've read a few self-insert stories in the Pokemon section and some Ash SIs, but I decided to try something different and go with Paul as the main character.**

 **This is mainly being written for fun as I try to regain my muse for my A Time for Wolves story.**

 **Let me know what you guys think of it and I hope you all enjoyed reading it.**


	2. Start of an Adventure

It was hard for me to believe that in my hand was a real Pokeball. Not the kind that was sold in stores as toys or collectibles but a real one, the kinds that were used to capture Pokemon in the games and show.

Paul seemed to have quite a few on him, most likely for when he wanted to capture multiple Pokemon and scan them for their moves before deeming if they were strong enough to add to his team. Surprisingly the only Pokemon Paul seemed to have on him at the moment was Elekid and Chimchar. His other Pokemon were probably with his brother, which meant that Paul wanted to focus training on the ones he had just recently caught.

Resting against a tree in a forest, I took out Paul's Pokedex and used it to scan what moves Chimchar and Elekid already had on them.

Elekid was definitely on a different level from Ash's Pikachu, I noted, learning that Elekid's moveset was Thunder, Protect, Brick Break, and Thunder Punch, with Static as his ability. Hopefully there wasn't a four move only limit like in the games because that would suck.

Setting Elekid's Pokeball aside, I checked Chimchar's next. Chimchar's moveset was Ember, Flame Wheel, Scratch, and Dig, with Blaze as his ability. Don't worry Chimchar, you're with me now, not Paul, well the real one anyways. With me training Chimchar instead of Paul, I was certain that I would be able to do what Paul could not and master Blaze along with fully evolving Chimchar into Infernape.

Chimchar would definitely become one of my strongest Pokemon alongside Paul's Torterra. I enjoyed using Chimchar in the games as it was my favorite Sinnoh Starter Pokemon. Leveling up and training was most likely going to be different than from what I was used to in the games. I doubted that experience points existed in this world compared to the games.

If only it were that easy to train powerful Pokemon for the upcoming Sinnoh League.

Unlike in the games, I was going to have to defeat other trainers and win the Sinnoh League in order to challenge the Elite Four and Cynthia. The only challenge in the Sinnoh League would be Tobias and his full team of legendary Pokemon. The only Pokemon on his team that I knew he had was Darkrai and Latios while the other members of his team were a complete mystery.

That was going to be a very interesting battle indeed.

Still, the Sinnoh League was a long way off and unlike Ash, I wouldn't have to deal with any distractions while training my Pokemon and winning Gym Badges. I was going to need to become even stronger than what Paul's level was at when he competed in the Sinnoh League.

That meant catching even more powerful Pokemon than the ones Paul caught during the show like that shiny Metagross…

I want that Metagross.

It never made any sense why Paul didn't catch that Metagross when Ash and his friends learned about how strong the Metagross was.

Anyways, time to figure out where I am. Hopefully we weren't too far off from when Ash arrived in the Sinnoh region. I was going to use Ash as my stepping-stone to test out my Pokemon on and to crush his dreams of becoming a Pokemon Master.

Searching through Paul's bag, I sighed in relief when I found another device that wasn't a Pokedex. It looked like a wristwatch with a logo on it. Hopefully it could tell me what my current location was.

Sadly Paul's Pokedex did not have the map function like it did in the games. The device when it turned on showed the entire region of Sinnoh on the screen and displayed my location on the map. Messing around with the device, I finally figured out how to zoom in and learned that I was currently on Route 202, near Sandgem Town.

That meant that we were definitely close to the start of the show and my first rival battle with Ash. Unlike Paul who had experience with Pokemon battles in this world, the only experience I had were in the games and they were completely different than from the show. Hopefully the Pokemon that were on hand would be enough to crush Ash's current team.

And unlike Paul, I wasn't much of a competitive player in the games, more like a casual player, focusing only on completing the game.

Why were we even near Sandgem Town in the first place?

If I remembered correctly, Paul was there searching for a strong Starly to add to his team. I never understood why he released it when it was a lot stronger than his Murkrow. If I caught the same Starly that Paul did, I was definitely going to keep it and train it. Staraptor was another Pokemon that I used on my team on my Platinum game.

What other Pokemon were here that was worth adding to my team?

Brock's Croagunk, I suddenly remembered. His Croagunk would certainly be handy on my team for the first Gym compared to whatever Pokemon Paul used alongside Elekid and Chimchar.

I want that Croagunk.

It was decided, Croagunk would be my first capture in this world before Starly. Sorry Brock, but you're going to have to find someone else to pull your ears when falling for women.

Time to create some ripples in the storyline.

Standing up, I placed Paul's device in the jacket and slung his bag over my shoulder, slipping my arm through the strap.

Bonding with Chimchar would have to wait. Right now I wanted to catch Croagunk and add it to my team. Knowing how powerful it was, like Ash's Pokemon, Croagunk would go to waste if Brock caught it.

Croagunk definitely fit Paul's character of catching powerful Pokemon.

The only problem was finding it.

Might as well start near the stores to see if it was lurking anywhere there.

Time to catch myself my first Pokemon in this world.

* * *

Man I'm beat.

Turns out that looking for a wild Pokemon was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Unlike in the games where you just had to run around in circles in the patches of grass, a Pokemon only appeared out in the wild if it wanted to be found. Well this was an unfortunate setback.

If only Paul had a flying-type Pokemon on him than it would make things a lot easier to search for Croagunk.

However I didn't feel like contacting Paul's brother at the moment, as I was worried that he would notice that I was not Paul. Even though that was the truth. It was starting to look like I would have to go with a Starly first to search for Croagunk.

Why couldn't searching for a Pokemon have been like in the games? Then again it was probably to prevent trainers from having too many Pokemon at their disposal or something like that.

It made me more and more impressed with Paul and his ability to catch and raise strong Pokemon he found in the wild. No doubt many other trainers caught Pokemon that were at a beginner's level unlike the ones Paul was able to catch.

Makes me wish that the Pokedex showed locations of where you could find a specific wild Pokemon. Compared to the games, the game Pokedex was more advanced than the ones on the show.

Only Paul's Pokedex seemed to be more advanced though that may just be because of Ash's incompetence as a trainer, who didn't know how to use all of the functions of a Pokedex he was given.

Not to mention that the writers of the show always reset Ash's experience and Pikachu's level to zero whenever they started a new adventure. Thank whatever being that put me here that I was not thrown into this world as Ash.

Though I also wasn't a huge fan of Paul, he was still a more competent trainer than Ash was. Even if his training methods and recruitment process was a bit harsh. He was just like the gamers who played the games though, always catching and training the strongest Pokemon they could find or breed to compete with against other players.

Ugh and now I'm hungry.

As I thought about eating, I couldn't help but wonder if Elekid and Chimchar needed to eat. Knowing Paul, most likely that they did.

Taking out their Pokeballs from my belt, I pressed the center button, enlarging them. Wonder how these two will react when being let out for something that is not training.

"Chimchar, Elekid, come on out!"

Tossing them into the air, a flash of white light erupted from them, materializing the two Pokemon right in front of my eyes. The first one to materialize was Elekid.

Like most baby Pokemon, Elekid was small, with a yellow rounded body, with black stripes. His arms were bulkier in comparison to his body, with three claws on each hand and two stripes on its arms, wrapped all the way around them. On his head were two horns protruding upwards like the prongs of a plug, with holes on their sides. On its chest was a lightning bolt shape marked in black, with two rows of black markings on each side. His legs were all black with its feet being round and toeless.

Elekid as I recalled from the anime would become one of Paul's main battling partners, using it throughout his journey and fully evolving it into an Electivire for the Sinnoh League. I aimed to do the same, only this time I would also have Infernape by my side as one of my main battling partners.

Next up was Chimchar, who appeared beside Elekid, looking around, wondering what they were called out for. Chimchar was about the same height as Elekid and resembled that of a chimpanzee. His fur was a shade of orange while his face, outer ears, underbelly, hands, and feet were a light yellow. His ears were larger in comparison to his head and were red inside. He also had red markings surroundings its eyes, a swirl-like symbol on its chest, and a swirly crest of hair on its head.

It was almost hard to believe that this little guy would become the badass Infernape that had a very powerful Blaze ability. Like Ash, Paul was also a lucky S.O.B for owning two Sinnoh Starters on his team and was a fool to release Chimchar. He no doubt regretted that decision in the end when he was defeated by Infernape in the Sinnoh League.

That was not going to happen this time. No matter what needed to be done, I was going to do whatever it took to make Chimchar's power mine and use its Blaze ability for myself, not for Ash. Even if that meant doing things that Paul wouldn't usually do.

"Elekid/Chimchar?" Both Pokemon looked at me, wondering what their task was for today.

Well this was awkward.

It was already strange enough for me to be seeing both Pokemon in the flesh rather than as pixels on a screen. To think that I would soon be seeing a whole bunch of other Pokemon in the flesh and dealing with them all on a daily basis, not to mention Paul's other Pokemon that were with his brother.

I was definitely not looking forward to that.

"Time to eat."

There was a store nearby that looked like to be a supermarket and hopefully they wouldn't be too expensive to buy stuff.

Motioning them to follow, I headed over to the building when I stopped, shocked to see the Pokemon that I had spent the entire morning looking for, resting outside the building.

Are you kidding me!?

This guy was going to regret wasting my time when I could already have a Starly or some other new Pokemon on my team by now.

"Elekid use Thunder on that Croagunk!"

Pointing at the small frog-like creature, Elekid cried out before aiming at his target. Spinning his arms he began to generate electricity around the prongs on his head before firing it at Croagunk.

"Croa?" Turning in surprise, Croagunk leaped out of the way, barely dodging the attack while the sidewalk took the brunt of the attack.

"Chimchar use Dig!"

"Chimchar!" Letting loose its claws, Chimchar struck the ground with them, burrowing its way into the earth.

I was catching this Croagunk no matter what! Two against one was an unfair battle, but this was a wild Pokemon and I wanted to catch a Pokemon before the day was over. Even if this Croagunk was the one that Brock caught in the show.

"Elekid use Brick Break!"

"Ele-kid!"

Lunging forward, sparks began to form around its arm as it charged forward. To my surprise, Croagunk countered it with its own Brick Break, the arm glowing as both attacks collided, covering both Pokemon in smoke from the explosion of their attacks.

Now would be a good time for Chimchar to attack.

"Croa!" Launched into the air and clearing the smoke was Croagunk, sent flying from Chimchar's punch, who had emerged from underneath it.

"Good work, Chimchar! Elekid finish it off with Thunder!"

"Chimchar?" Chimchar looked at me in surprise while Elekid began to spin its arms, generating electricity and firing it at Croagunk.

"Croa!" Croagunk cried out in pain while it was electrocuted from Elekid's attack before crashing into the ground.

Now was my chance!

Taking out a Pokeball from my belt, I enlarged it and tossed it, hoping that I didn't miss the target. Luckily the Pokeball hit its mark and sucked Croagunk inside, falling to the ground and swirling to each side as I waited for the outcome of the capture.

If this were anything like the games, it would only take three shakes before a successful capture, but sometimes it was different in the show.

Both Chimchar and Elekid surrounded the Pokeball, waiting to attack incase Croagunk escaped from its capture.

Finally after what felt like an eternity the Pokeball stopped moving and dinged, signifying a successful capture. Chimchar and Elekid relaxed while I walked over to the Pokeball and picked it up.

You're finally mine, Croagunk. Alongside Chimchar and Elekid, Croagunk would be useful in their first Gym Battle.

Taking out my Pokedex, I messed around with it before finding the function that let it scan the Pokeball for what moves Croagunk had on it.

Croagunk's moveset was Poison Jab, Poison Sting, and Brick Break, while its Ability was Anticipation, and its gender was male. Not bad for my first capture in this world. This Croagunk would be a great addition to my team.

"Looks like we've got ourselves a new member." I shrunk Croagunk's Pokeball and clipped it onto my belt then stuffed the Pokedex back into my jacket.

"Not bad you two and nice timing with that Dig, Chimchar."

"Char?" Chimchar looked up at me, surprised by my praise while Elekid had a confused look on his face.

It was then that I remembered I was Paul, having forgotten all about it during the heat of the battle. Paul never gave any praises to his Pokemon and used them only as tools for battle. He also never took the time to bond with any of his Pokemon.

There goes my first screw up for the day and it was only the first day since I had arrived in this world in Paul's body. Doing this whole cold and ruthless act was not working for me. Now what am I going to do?

Reaching down I patted Chimchar on the head. "Chimchar?"

"Come on, let's go get something to eat. You two have earned it."

"Ele-kid!"

Looking over at Elekid, I could tell that he was trying to figure out what was up with mine or Paul's sudden change in character. No doubt Elekid had been with Paul longer and knew him better than Chimchar did.

"I'm still me, Elekid. I will become the strongest, no matter what it takes."

It was the only response I could come up with at the moment and hopefully Elekid would accept that. Paul had his way of doing things and I had mine, but we both had the same goal and that was to become the strongest.

Taking out Elekid's Pokeball, I pointed it at him. "Return, I will let you out when it is time to eat."

A beam of red light shot out from the Pokeball towards Elekid, engulfing it in the red light before sucking it inside. I shrunk it and then clipped it back onto my belt.

"You too, Chimchar."

"Chimchar." Chimchar returned back inside his Pokeball and I sighed in relief when I was alone, clipping Chimchar's Pokeball to my belt.

Sooner or later I was going to have to deal with the matter and there was no point in waiting out. I was stuck here as Paul and even though I could accept his method of releasing Pokemon that were weak, there was no way that I would be able to treat them the way that Paul did.

They were real creatures in this world, not like in mine where they were just pixels on a screen. I needed to come up with an excuse to tell Reggie and Paul's Pokemon why some of Paul's methods had changed. Sure I was going to still catch and keep whatever strong Pokemon came my way, but that was where my similarities with Paul ended.

Reggie would probably be the first person to notice that something was up since he knew his brother better than anyone else in this world. Looks like I would be calling him a lot sooner than I had planned on.

Yeah, I know that I'm overreacting, but it was impossible for me to keep up this act forever. It was better for me in the long run if I dealt with this matter early on than wait until it was too late.

The only problem I had was what I should say.

But first, I need to get something to eat.

* * *

 **Here we are with chapter two, and I'm honestly surprised with the response I got for the first chapter. A lot more than what I thought it was going to be. I was hoping to make this chapter longer but decided to end the chapter after SI-Paul caught Croagunk.**

 **I hope this chapter wasn't too disappointing as like I said before, this is only being written for fun and also my first time writing a story in first person.**

 **SI-Paul's Pokemon Team:**

 **Elekid (M) Ability: Static. Moves: Thunder, Protect, Brick Break, Thunder Punch**

 **Chimchar (M) Ability: Blaze. Moves: Ember, Flame Wheel, Scratch, Dig**

 **Croagunk (M) Ability: Anticipation. Moves: Poison Jab, Poison Sting, Brick Break**


	3. Rivals

"Eat up you three. We're going to be hunting for another Pokemon soon."

"Chimchar/Ele-kid!"

"Croa."

After getting something for myself to eat, I let out my Pokemon to enjoy their food. Croagunk lurked over by a tree, keeping its distance while its injuries sustained during the battle healed. There was no doubt about it, this Croagunk was the one Brock was meant to catch in the show. It was certainly strong and I could use that kind of power on my team. Croagunk's power would go to waste if he was with Brock and would never reach his full potential like most of Brock's Pokemon.

Looks like I was going to have to visit the Pokemon Center later to get my Pokemon healed.

Paul had on him some Potions to heal his Pokemon, but that was about it. This guy was serious about treating his Pokemon as nothing more than tools.

Not to mention that he only had a little bit of food on him to give to his Pokemon when they required it. I was also going to need stock up on some of that so that my Pokemon didn't go hungry.

Yeah there was no way that I would be able to keep acting as Paul forever with the way that he treated his Pokemon. It was impossible for me.

The problem was coming up with a clever lie that would convince Paul's brother and Pokemon about my sudden change in character. Perhaps I could use Chimchar as a reason.

If I remembered correctly, Paul wanted Chimchar to be his strongest fire-type Pokemon before he released it and replaced Chimchar with Magmortar.

That was a mistake on Paul's part. If his training methods weren't working for Chimchar, he could have at least sent it over to his brother to train instead of allowing Ash to catch it and use it against him.

Not this time Ash. Chimchar was mine and there was no way I was going to let Chimchar's potential go to waste with Ash.

We were going to win the Sinnoh League no matter what.

There was no point in trying to figure out how I had ended up here in Paul's body nor finding a way to get back to my world.

Might as well just go with the flow and make the most of my situation.

Still, I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to the real Paul. His body, Pokemon, and memories were now mine while he had completely disappeared from this world. Not like the guy deserved to live in this world with the way he treated his Pokemon. Paul was gone and I had replaced him for some reason.

That was the only thing I knew.

What did it matter anyways? For all I knew, I was stuck here and there was nothing I could do about it but deal with it.

All that mattered now was becoming stronger and claiming the title as Champion of the Sinnoh region. Cynthia would be difficult to defeat, especially with her Garchomp, but I would become the first to defeat it, just as Ash was the first to defeat Tobias's Darkrai.

Nothing else really mattered to me anymore. My mind was set on achieving fame as a renowned Pokemon Trainer.

It was time to move on from my past life since it really wasn't that interesting to begin with.

Who knew it could be so hard to adapt in a new world? Not to mention in another person's body.

So here I was, living the life of a Pokemon Trainer with Pokemon that were not my own. Had it not been for my presence here, Croagunk most certainly would have been caught by Brock, which meant that none of these Pokemon were truly mine.

At least whatever being put me here could have given me my own body!

Yeah, I was still pissed off that I was stuck in this world as someone else and not as myself. It would have been a lot more easier for me instead of trying to pretend to be Paul, which I was currently failing at.

Elekid was no doubt noticing my change as was Chimchar.

Knowing Paul, he most likely would have scolded Chimchar instead of praising him after a battle. It was no wonder that Chimchar never managed to get stronger under Paul's care. Out of all of his Pokemon, Paul treated Chimchar the worst, but that was not going to happen this time.

Chimchar had the potential to become the strongest Infernape out there, even stronger than Flint's Infernape, and I was going to see to it that my Chimchar reached that point under my care.

Together we would be able to control Chimchar's Blaze and use his ability against our opponents.

Paul never had the patience for it, but I did, and unlike Ash, I was not going to be distracted from my goal of reaching the top.

"Time to go you three."

Looking over at my Pokemon, I saw that they were all finished with their meal and looking at me.

"Char/Ele-kid/Croa."

"We're not done yet."

Taking out their Pokeballs, I had them return and clip them back onto my belt.

Starly was the next Pokemon I was going to catch while I was here before moving on to the first gym. Sure Starly would not be very effective in the first gym battle, but it was better to have an extra flying-type Pokemon besides the Murkrow that Paul had caught during his travels.

And unlike in the games, I was going to need more Pokemon in my reserves for future battles against other trainers in the Sinnoh League. Especially for when I went up against Ash and Tobias.

I was not going to underestimate Ash, even if he was not going to have Infernape this time around. There was always the slight chance that Ash's Pikachu could become even stronger that it was in the show or that he used a different Pokemon on his team to fill up the slot that Chimchar would have taken.

Checking the map, I searched for the most likely spot Starly would be at.

We were getting close to cannon and my first real Pokemon battle and just like Paul, I planned to crush Ash in our battle.

Smiling, I was looking forward to seeing the look on Ash's face when I completely overwhelmed him.

Now however, it was time that I caught my second Pokemon since arriving in this world.

* * *

This place ought to do it.

Looking around at the trees that surrounded me, I figured that this would be the perfect spot for Starly to lurk about.

Taking out Elekid's Pokeball, I tossed it into the air. "Elekid, standby!"

"Ele-kid!"

Materializing from the Pokeball, Elekid looked around, wondering what they were doing here.

If everything went according to plan, Elekid's attack would eventually draw Ash over here, hoping that it was his Pikachu that had unleashed the attack.

Hopefully I would be able to catch the Starly that I wanted before then.

Taking out my spare Pokeballs, I grinned, looking forward to adding another Pokemon to my team.

"Elekid use Thunder along the trees!"

"Ele-kid!"

Spinning his arms, Elekid generated electricity and fired them off at the trees. Creating as much noise as possible ought to be enough to disturb the Starly in the area.

Scanning the tree lines, I heard the cries of the Pokemon as the leaves began to rustle.

"Starly!"

Shooting out of the trees, hundreds of Starly took flight, struggling to avoid the bolts of lightning that Elekid sent their way. This was certainly a lot easier than running around in circles on a patch of grass, looking for a specific Pokemon.

"Keep it up, Elekid!"

"Ele-kid!"

Elekid continued to spin his arms, striking whatever Starly got in the line of fire.

Enlarging one of the Pokeballs in my hand, I threw it at one of the Starly that were weakened by Elekid's attack. Hitting its mark, the Pokeball sucked the Starly inside, falling to the ground and dinging, signifying a successful capture.

That was one Starly down. Hopefully one of them was a really strong one that could compete with Paul's Murkrow.

I had two open spaces left on my team before the rest would be sent to the PC storage or whatever it was called in the anime. After that, I would just release the two that were not up to my standards and stick with the one that was the strongest.

It was then that I wished that I could catch a shiny Starly, but knowing my luck, that was never going to happen. It would make my Starly unique compared to the others that also used one on their teams.

"Ele-kid!" Elekid looked at me, as if it was wondering if they were done yet with these Starly.

"Not yet."

Readying another Pokeball, I tossed it at another Starly, making another successful capture with Elekid's help.

At this point I was getting ready to capture my last Starly when I spotted it. Gracefully dodging Elekid's attack was a Starly that looked like none of the other Starly around them.

It had brown feathers instead of grey and seemed able enough to avoid Elekid's attacks.

"Elekid, concentrate all of your attacks on the brown one!"

"Ele-kid!"

Finding its target, Elekid unleashed a bolt of lightning at the Starly, causing it to swerve around it, narrowly dodging the attack. Elekid seemed surprised by its agile movements, but continued to launch a fury of attacks at it, not wanting their target to escape.

"Keep it up!"

Man it seemed like I had better luck in this world with finding shiny Pokemon than I did in the games.

It was on my Platinum game when I encountered my first shiny Pokemon after many hours of gameplay, and it was an Abomasnow on Mt. Coronet. I wasn't even trying to hunt for a shiny Pokemon when I encountered it.

There was no way that I was going to let this Starly to escape. Not on my watch.

"Ele-kid!" Launching a powerful blast of lightning, Elekid struck his target, shocking the Starly and weakening it.

Not missing a beat, I tossed my Pokeball at the Starly, sucking it in and rushing over to it, looking forward to having the shiny Starly on my team. It had a chance of not being as strong as the other Starly I caught, but at the moment I didn't care.

Picking up the Pokeball, I looked over at Elekid and grinned.

"Good work, Elekid."

"Ele-kid!"

"Starly, over here!"

Surprised that it was not the cry of the Pokemon, I turned around, realizing that the voice belonged to Ash as he came towards them along with Brock and what looked like to be his Aipom.

I almost forgot that Ash had an Aipom. Never really paid much attention to that Pokemon.

Had it not been for me slowly getting used to this world, I would have freaked out that I was actually face to face with the real Ash Ketchum and Brock of course.

So this was Ash Ketchum in the flesh.

Keeping my emotions in check, I tried to keep my face as neutral as possible, not wanting them to think that I knew them.

This was the guy who in one universe would have beaten Paul in the Sinnoh League and go on to lose to Tobias in the semi-finals, but not this time. I was determined to beat Ash no matter what and completely overwhelm him in all of their future battles.

"What do you want?"

Not the best way to start a conversation, but whatever, I didn't want to deal with them any longer than I had to.

"Uh, sorry, I didn't know that anyone was out here, but us," Ash replied.

"It must have been his Elekid that launched that electric attack," Brock noted.

Thanks for stating the obvious.

"Anyway, I've got a question for you. You haven't seen a girl with a Pikachu around here, have you?" Ash asked.

What happened to Ash's Pikachu again? Oh right, Team Rocket, stupid question.

"No, but you want to battle?"

"Sure, let's do it!" Ash exclaimed, eager to battle. Too bad that his hopes were about to be crushed.

"We'll use three Pokemon to test each other's strengths. So, what do you say?"

Ash gasped when he learned of the rules of their battle. "I would, but I only have two Pokemon."

Shrugging my shoulders, I turned around. "Then you're not worth my time. Elekid, let's go."

"Ele-kid!"

As much I was looking forward to battling Ash, I wanted to test out my new Pokemon and I wouldn't be able to do that if it was a single or double battle. I would just have to wait for Ash to reunite with his Pikachu before challenging him to a battle.

Suddenly a huge bolt of lightning crackled through the air and I looked over my shoulder to see a huge pillar of lightning shooting up into the sky.

"That's a Volt Tackle!" I heard Ash exclaim before he took off in the direction the attack came from.

Looks like our battle would be a lot sooner than I thought.

Might as well wait for Ash to arrive at Professor Rowan's lab before challenging him again.

Checking the map, I set off for my destination, not caring about what kind of trouble Ash got into with Team Rocket.

It was his problem, not mine.

* * *

After arriving at Professor Rowan's lab, I released the two normal Starly from my team before checking the moves on the shiny Starly.

Turns out that my Starly had a pretty good moveset, with Aerial Ace, Double Team, and Wing Attack on it. It certainly was a lot stronger than the other two Starly that I had acquired, thankfully.

Now all I had to do was wait for Ash to arrive before challenging him again to a battle. It would be my first real battle in this world, but with Paul's Pokemon and mine, I was certain that we would be able to overcome Ash's pathetic team of Pokemon.

I had already decided on using the same three Pokemon that Paul had used in his first battle with Ash in the anime. Croagunk would have to wait for his chance to battle when they arrived at the first gym.

Wouldn't want to reveal all of my newly acquired Pokemon to Ash before we fought for real in the Sinnoh League.

While I waited for Ash to arrive, I had time to relax and plot for my future in this world.

Even though the Sinnoh League was so far off, I couldn't help but plan out my strategy on how to deal with Tobias. Knowing that the writers only put him in the show to prevent Ash from winning the Sinnoh League, I knew he would be the greatest challenge I would have to overcome in order to challenge the Elite Four and Cynthia.

Darkrai and Latios, not to mention the other four unknown Pokemon that Tobias had on his team. He was able to wipe out all of Ash's team with just two of his legendary Pokemon, but it wasn't really an accomplishment for Tobias since Ash was using a really crappy team at the time. I would have to use some very powerful Pokemon on my team if I hoped to stand a chance against Tobias.

The ones that Paul had in the anime would not be enough.

It was a long road to becoming Champion, but I was going to reach it. Otherwise, what was the point with me being here instead of Paul?

Looking up, I smirked when I saw Ash and his friends emerge from Professor Rowan's lab.

Ash also seemed surprised to see me when I approached them.

"Yes, who are you?" The older-looking man in the group asked, whom I guessed was Professor Rowan.

"My name is Paul from Veilstone City and I'm here for him." I replied, looking over at Ash.

"For me?" Ash asked.

"You've got three Pokemon now. So are you ready for that battle now?"

"Pika!" Pikachu glared at me, as if eager for a challenge.

Ash smiled. "Sure, I'm ready. I'm going to become Pokemon Master and the way to do that is to beat challengers like you!"

Pikachu leaped off of Ash's shoulder, landing in front of him. "Pika!"

God he even sounded like a kid. It was almost irritating for me to listen to his voice. Seriously, after traveling through Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn, Ash was still a ten-year old kid. It was time for someone like me to put him in his place and crush his dreams.

Professor Rowan nodded his head. "Then off to my back garden."

Moving to the site of their battlefield, I readied myself for battle while facing Ash and his Pikachu on the opposite end of the field. They both looked eager to begin the battle as was I.

Though they didn't know it, this was going to be my first real Pokemon battle in this world and I was going to win it no matter what.

"I'll be the referee!" Brock announced, standing off to the sides in the middle of the battlefield.

"This is going to be great! I've never seen a real Pokemon battle before."

It was then that I noticed Dawn, completely forgetting that she was here along with the others. She was cute, in little-girl terms of course. I would be lying if I didn't admit that I had a crush on Dawn when I first saw her on the show. Now however in the flesh she wasn't that impressive to look at. There were a lot more women out there in this world that were more beautiful than her.

"Alright, like I said before, this will be a three on three battle, with no substitutions, and the one with two wins first is the winner. Understand?" Smirking, I waited for Ash's response.

"Yeah, I got it. Starly, I choose you!" Ash shouted, the small avian Pokemon taking flight onto the battlefield.

"Starly, standby for battle!" Tossing my own Pokeball out onto the battlefield, Ash and his friends were surprised when they saw my Starly emerge onto the battlefield.

"Whoa, that Starly has a different color than Ash's!"

"Indeed."

Of course they would all be impressed by my Starly. Mine was unique and stood out from the rest of the Starly out there.

Now it was time to see if Ash did exactly what he did in the show.

"Alright Ash, I'll let you go first."

"Right, Starly use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.

"Starly!" Ash's Starly shot forward, striking mine before making its way back over to Ash.

Why was I not surprised?

"Starly use Aerial Ace!" I shouted.

"Starly!" Regaining its position, my Starly shot forward and struck Ash's Starly, causing it to cry out, as it was sent flying backwards.

"Starly, Wing Attack, go!" Ash ordered.

"Double Team!" I shouted.

Unlike in the games, my Starly multiplied, confusing Ash's Starly while mine got in from behind his.

"The real one's in the back, dodge it now!" Ash cried out.

"Finish it off with Aerial Ace!" I ordered.

"Starly!" My Starly struck Ash's before his could react, sending it crashing to the ground, and knocking it out.

"Ash's Starly is unable to battle! Paul's Starly is the winner!" Brock announced.

"Starly return, now!" Ash's Starly was sucked back into his Pokeball.

This battle was decided before it had even begun. Smirking, I returned my Starly to his Pokeball. "Good work, Starly."

You've certainly proved yourself in this battle, Starly.

"Now Aipom, you're up next!" Ash cried out, letting out his second Pokemon.

Let's end this.

"Chimchar, standby for battle!"

"A Chimchar." Ash said, taking out his Pokedex to check it out.

I couldn't help but antagonize Ash a bit when I remembered the line Paul had said to Ash after he had finished checking his Pokedex.

"Isn't that nice? You got your Chimchar lesson for today."

Ash glared at me, no doubt not amused by my comment. "Now Swift, Aipom!"

Aipom jumped into the air, launching a fury of stars from its tail.

"Ember!" I ordered.

"Chim-char!" Chimchar countered the attack, launching a fury of bursts of flames that clashed against Aipom's attack, cancelling each other's attacks out.

"Focus Punch, go!"

"Use Flame Wheel!"

"Chim-char!" Engulfing himself in flames, they began to spin around before colliding into Aipom, finally inflicting damage on Ash's Pokemon.

Not wanting to continue this match any longer than I had to, it was time that I ended it. "Chimchar time to finish it off!"

"Double Team, Aipom!" Ash ordered after his Aipom had recovered.

"Counter with Ember!" I shouted.

Just as expected, Chimchar completely took out all of Aipom's clones.

"Now use Flame Wheel!"

Engulfing himself once more, Chimchar shot forward crashing into Ash's Aipom, hurting it with Chimchar's flames.

"Use Focus Punch again, Aipom!" Ash cried out.

You're not taking out Chimchar this time, Ash.

"Chimchar use Ember then Dig!" I ordered.

Ash gasped when Aipom's attack was cancelled out once more by Chimchar's attack before burrowing itself underground.

"Aipom watch out!" Ash shouted.

"Finish it." I ordered.

The ground underneath Aipom began to crack open and Chimchar emerged from it, punching Aipom and knocking it out.

"Ash's Aipom is unable to battle! Paul's Chimchar is the winner, making Paul the winner!" Brock announced.

"Chimchar!" Chimchar danced around in glee, happy about its victory.

Kneeling down, I patted Chimchar's head. "You did well today, Chimchar."

"Char?" Chimchar looked at me, still surprised that I was not scolding it.

Smiling, I took out his Pokeball and returned him inside it. It was going to take sometime to mend the bridges between me and Chimchar, but I knew that I would be able to do it.

Looking up, I grinned when I saw how disappointed Ash was with his loss.

"Pika." Pikachu glared at me as I approached them.

"Better luck next time, Ash." Looking over at Professor Rowan, I bowed my head. "Professor, thanks for the use of the field."

Not waiting for a response, I headed off, pleased with my first victory against Ash and ready to begin my Pokemon journey.

I would have plenty of more encounters with Ash in the future and every battle we would have, I vowed that I would be the one to emerge from them as the victor.

Now I was ready to come up with an excuse to Paul's brother for mine/Paul's sudden change in character.

* * *

 **And here we are with chapter three. Loving all of the positive feedback I'm getting for this story, along with all the favorites/followers.**

 **Yes these chapters will still be short compared to the usual chapter lengths that I write, but that's only because I'm still getting used to writing in first-person, but at least that means kind of faster updates from me than usual.**

 **And about SI-Paul's Shiny Starly. I wanted him to get a Shiny Starly just to make his Staraptor unique compared to other Staraptors used in show.**

 **Also I haven't made my mind up completely about this, but I might stop after ten chapters on this story before trying to do a couple of chapters on my "A Time for Wolves" story before switching back to working on this one.**

 **Now for some Reviews.**

 **MeraHunt: I would highly recommend watching the Diamond and Pearl series, as its one of my favorites along with the XY series.**

 **ToaSolaric: Pokemon will be able to do more than four moves, just that SI-Paul was thinking about it because he was comparing the game mechanics to the show.**

 **kalmaegi: Yeah, I thought it would be funny if SI-Paul encountered Croagunk right when he was about to give up, lol. As for Paul's other Pokemon, SI-Paul will definitely be meeting them during his journey.**

 **frankieu: Not sure about Brock's Geodude, but I might have it be his Sudowoodo since that was the only Pokemon he had on him when went to the Sinnoh region.**

 **Kara010: Thanks for the high praise.**

 **kbanders96: I know, I wanted to do a story like this for awhile because this type of idea has bugged me a lot, only that I never got to it until now because I was focused on my other story and life, lol.**

 **SI-Paul's Pokemon Team:**

 **Elekid (M) Ability: Static. Moves: Thunder, Protect, Brick Break, Thunder Punch**

 **Chimchar (M) Ability: Blaze. Moves: Ember, Flame Wheel, Scratch, Dig**

 **Croagunk (M) Ability: Anticipation. Moves: Poison Jab, Poison Sting, Brick Break**

 **Shiny Starly (M) Moves: Aerial Ace, Double Team, Wing Attack**


	4. Neo Paul

So this was the Pokemon Center.

Stepping into the tall white and red building through sliding doors, I was greeted at the front desk by a very attractive woman, with the pinkest hair I'd ever seen in my life, whom I instantly recognized as Nurse Joy.

And to think that I would be running into a whole bunch of them during my journey. I was not looking forward to that.

"Hello and welcome to the Pokemon Center. How may I assist you today?" Nurse Joy asked with a kind smile. Her greeting reminded me of all the times I would enter the Pokemon Center when playing the games.

At least now she was attractive to look at instead of a blob of head on the screen.

"My Pokemon need to be healed." Taking out Chimchar, Elekid, Croagunk, and Starly's Pokeballs from my belt, I handed them over to Nurse Joy.

They needed their health restored after our battle with Ash. Only Elekid and Croagunk didn't really need it since I had managed to defeat two of Ash's Pokemon during the match with just Starly and Chimchar, thus automatically making me the winner. Still, I wasn't going to be like Paul and carry on with training my Pokemon while they still had injuries sustained from their previous battles.

"I will let you know when your Pokemon are fully healed," Nurse Joy said, placing my Pokeballs on a tray and handing them over to Chansey.

Might as well make that call to Paul's brother while I was waiting.

Heading over to the phone booths, I stopped in front of them, wondering if I was making the right decision. It was going to happen anyways, whether I wanted it to or not.

Here goes nothing.

As if by instinct or memory, I dialed in Reggie's number and waited for him to answer.

As to why I was calling Paul's brother, it was related to one of my initial worries when I first discovered my predicament.

It goes without saying that I am not really Paul. Our personalities were completely different when it came to treating Pokemon, and if he acted anything like how the show portrayed him, one would easily see the shift in personality that occurred literally overnight, like Paul's Elekid and Chimchar were no doubt noticing. It was only shown in small scenes how Paul acted towards his Pokemon, and I knew how his training methods worked.

Though Paul rarely interacted with his brother during the show, it seemed like Reggie knew what his brother was like and took care of all of his Pokemon that he kept in his reserves.

I don't want to think about what would happen if anyone concluded and proved that I was not the same Paul that was born into this world, so I'm nipping that problem in the bud.

Reggie soon answered the call and his face appeared on the screen. If only these phones were voice only and didn't show my face, it would make things so much easier for me.

Stay in character, stay in character, I told myself. "Reggie, I'm sending one of my Pokemon over to you. I won't need them for the Oreburgh Gym."

If I remembered correctly, unlike Ash, Paul constantly rotated his team around when they suited him, so might as well start the conversation off with that before things got serious.

"What Pokemon did you catch this time that caught your interest?"

So far so good. Reggie hasn't noticed anything yet.

"A Starly and a Croagunk. I will be using Croagunk alongside Elekid and Chimchar for my Oreburgh Gym match."

"They must be strong if you decided to keep them."

And rare, I added to myself, knowing that I was one of the few trainers in this world to own a shiny Starly.

Time to see if this works. Please let Reggie believe me.

If anyone would be able to call out my bullshit, it was Reggie and I hoped that would never happen.

"There is something else. It's about Chimchar."

Please let this work, please let this work, I prayed in my mind.

Reggie raised an eyebrow. "What is it? It's rare for you to show concern for your Pokemon."

You have no idea, Reggie.

"My current training methods are not working for Chimchar. I haven't been able to produce the power Chimchar unleashed the day we met."

Reggie seemed surprise by my acknowledged failure for Chimchar. "What do you plan to do about that?"

If it was the old Paul, he no doubt would have released Chimchar for its weakness, but that was not me. I knew how strong Chimchar would become and had no intention of letting that power fall into someone else's hands. Looking at you, Ash.

"I've been thinking about what Brandon said. I want to get stronger, together with Chimchar and all of my Pokemon. Right now I am not compatible with Chimchar, but I know that Chimchar has the potential to become one of my strongest Pokemon."

"What brought about this sudden change? It can't just be because of Chimchar's potential, because you and I both know that the only thing you care about is a Pokemon's strength."

And this was where Ash came in.

"I met a trainer recently who has a Pikachu that can use Volt Tackle. He reminds me a lot about you. His Pikachu was strong and it made me realize that Chimchar, given the time, could also reach that potential. Chimchar, however, will be the only exception. I still will continue to catch other Pokemon that are powerful in my eyes."

I was expecting quite a number of things at this point: Reggie could always call bullshit, demanding what had happened to his real brother, as he would not be fooled by such a ruse and accuse me of body snatching, or whatever the term was. Not only that, but Paul's Pokemon would also be able to realize that something was up with their trainer, including his Torterra.

To my surprise, Reggie smiled. "Well it's a start at least. Hopefully you will be able to care for more of your Pokemon like you do with Chimchar."

"Don't think that I will be able to change that easily, Reggie."

"This trainer must have been something if he was able to influence you."

Not really, but Reggie didn't need to know that.

"I will send my Starly over to you once my Pokemon are fully healed."

"I will be waiting here to receive it."

And with that, their conversation came to an end and I could finally relax.

* * *

Well at least that was over and done with.

But damn was that tiring. Who knew that using Chimchar and Ash would work to convince Reggie about my sudden change of heart?

At least it all went off without a hitch. For now anyways.

No doubt that Reggie was wondering what was going on with his brother, but was pleased with the fact that his brother was starting to learn to care for his Pokemon.

That was probably what Reggie was looking forward to when he had learned about Paul's rivalry with Ash. The day when his brother started to learn to care for his Pokemon instead of treating them as tools for battle.

Once my Pokemon had been fully healed and I had sent Starly over to Reggie, I headed over to the PC's in the Pokemon Center to check out what kinds of Pokemon Paul had in his reserves.

Unlike in the games, the PC required Paul's Pokedex to log in to check his storage.

They were definitely a lot more advanced than the ones in the games. Not to mention that there were a whole bunch of PC's in the Pokemon Center compared to just the one that was next to the healing station. Of course that was probably because there were many more Pokemon Trainers out in the world compared to in the games.

Checking Paul's Pokemon, I was not at all surprised to see his Torterra at the top of the list. It was also no surprise to me that Paul had very few Pokemon in his reserves due to his selective team creation, with his Pokemon consisting of those he deems to be powerful.

During his travels through the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn regions, Paul had caught fewer Pokemon than Ash had during his travels. It was no wonder that Paul was unable to win any of the League Conferences he had participated in.

That must have been why Paul's Torterra had been his strongest compared to the rest of his Pokemon.

Continuing down the list, I spotted Paul's Murkrow, Weavile, Magmar, Hariyama, Nidoking, Gastradon, Froslass, and Ninjask that Paul had acquired during his travels.

If I remembered correctly, Paul's Murkrow was really strong, forcing two of Ash's Pokemon to evolve during their battles.

As for Magmar, Paul probably kept it in his reserves while he focused on Chimchar, hoping that Chimchar would become one of his strongest fire-type Pokemon. Magmar would come in handy when I needed Chimchar to rest and could use it for a backup during future battles. It would also evolve into a very powerful Magmortar that Paul would use in his first full battle against Ash.

As for the rest of Paul's Pokemon, I doubted they would see much use in my future battles.

Weavile wasn't that great of a Pokemon and I would need to find a replacement for it to use in the Sinnoh League. That wouldn't be so difficult considering that I wouldn't have to deal with any distractions along my journey.

Compared to Ash who always got distracted and went out of his way to help others, I had no intention of doing that.

Companions would only slow me down. It was better for me if I traveled on my own, like in the games and what Paul did.

It was probably why Ash never got any stronger than he did, always getting distracted by his companions, never focusing on training his Pokemon as much as he should have, and not understanding the basics of Pokemon battles.

Not to mention all of the Pokemon Ash encountered along the way that he could have caught instead of befriending. He could have had a larger pool of Pokemon to choose from instead of just using Pokemon he had caught in the region he was traveling in.

As for Paul, he missed out on a whole bunch of strong Pokemon he could have caught along the way due to Ash's antics.

Sure I had no intention of stalking Ash and his friends just to use their luck against them for catching Pokemon, but it would certainly pay off in the long run for the Sinnoh League.

That of course didn't mean that I planned to befriend them. It was all for the sake of becoming the strongest.

With the problem with Reggie out of the way, I could now put all of my focus on my Pokemon journey.

Guess being a kid again let me get away with certain things as I had learned with Reggie. Reggie probably thought that his brother was finally growing up and learning the errors of his way.

Not like that would ever happen.

Like Paul, I still planned to catch the strongest Pokemon that I could find and train them, but Chimchar would require a different method of training.

I had the patience unlike Paul and when I was done with Chimchar, he would be even stronger than he was under Ash's care in the show.

Closing out of the PC screen, I got up and headed out of the room, satisfied with what I had learned about the Pokemon Paul currently had on him.

Nurse Joy bowed her head as I took my leave. "Thank you for stopping by. We hope to see you again."

Checking the map, I found out that my next destination was Jubilife City, but close by was Bewilder Forest, where Paul caught his Ursaring and had a rematch with Ash.

Looks like that was where I was heading next.

* * *

"Chimchar use Flame Wheel, Elekid counter with Thunder, and Croagunk use Brick Break!"

"Chim-char/Ele-kid/Croa!"

All three of my Pokemon launched consecutive attacks at each other. Chimchar slammed into Croagunk's fist while Elekid shocked both of them. I kept myself calm while I watched Chimchar and Croagunk cry out in pain from the attack.

We were currently near what I hoped was Bewilder Forest, training for our upcoming gym battle at Oreburgh City. Fighting-types and ground-type moves would be super effective against Roark, who used rock-type Pokemon. Not to mention that Roark would probably not expect me to use these three Pokemon, as he no doubt trained his Pokemon to combat against water-types.

Though Roark's Pokemon would also be effective against mine, it was a risk that I was willing to take.

This wasn't like in the games where I could spam super effective moves against my opponent's Pokemon. Not to mention that my Pokemon didn't have a health bar by their names when they battled. It also didn't help that non-effective moves could sometimes knock out a Pokemon that wouldn't be able to do much damage to it in the first place.

Hopefully all three of my Pokemon would be able to help each other out in their first gym battle.

"Chimchar use Dig! Croagunk, Elekid, counter with Brick Break!"

"Chimchar!"

While Chimchar burrowed itself underground, Elekid and Croagunk waited for the right moment to strike. The ground behind Elekid began to crack open and Chimchar emerged from the hole, only to be struck to the side by Elekid's punch.

"Chimchar, counter with Flame Wheel. Elekid, take the attack."

"Chimchar/Ele-kid!"

Unleashing a powerful flame that cloaked Chimchar's body, he spun straight at Elekid and slammed into him, burning Elekid in the process.

"Croagunk use Brick Break on Elekid. Elekid, counter with Protect!"

Chimchar leaped out of the way as Croagunk flew over Elekid, his fist glowing as he swung it down on his target. Elekid threw his arms to the side, creating a shield around him that blocked the attack.

"Chimchar use Ember on both of them!"

A fury of flame bursts launched from Chimchar's mouth, smashing straight into Elekid and Croagunk, sending them crashing into the ground.

The battle with Roark was going to be a lot more intense than this and they needed to be ready for whatever the gym leader had in store for them.

"Elekid, Croagunk, use Brick Break on Chimchar. Chimchar, counter with Flame Wheel!"

Engulfing himself once more in flames, Chimchar charged forward while Elekid and Croagunk lunged at their new target, fists glowing before swinging them down on Chimchar.

All three of them were engulfed in smoke from the explosion caused upon impact from their attacks.

Once the dust had settled, all three of them looked to be worn out from their training.

"That's enough for now. We'll continue on later once we've eaten and rested."

"Char/Ele-kid?"

Both Chimchar and Elekid were surprised when I approached them and knelt down in front of them. It was obvious from their reactions that Paul never took the time to bond with any of them after training, letting them eat for a little bit before resuming training.

"You've earned it. You three will need all the rest you can get for our first gym battle."

I patted Chimchar's head, showing as much affection to the little guy as I could.

These guys were my responsibility now, whether I wanted it to be or not, and we were going to get stronger together.

After all, that was what a Pokemon journey was all about, right?

* * *

 **Not my best chapter so far, but this was more or less meant as a confrontation between SI-Paul and Reggie. I will admit it wasn't that great of a confrontation and I didn't really like how it went. Hopefully you guys didn't mind it that much and will continue on reading and enjoying it, and like I said before, this is supposed to be a fun project for me while I try to get my muse back for my other story, so don't take it too seriously.**

 **Now for the reviews:**

 **kalmaegi: Same here, and Starly won't be the only shiny Pokemon SI-Paul catches. Hopefully SI-Paul's confrontation with Reggie was bearable enough, but for me, I didn't enjoy writing that scene and wanted to get it over and done with.**

 **frankieu: Hopefully this chapter answers all of your questions.**

 **kbanders96: Not sure about Persian, as I don't have any plans for SI-Paul catching one.**

 **Toa Solaric: Hopefully the confrontation isn't too disappointing. As for mocking the others, I might have a few scenes for that if he's around for any of those moments.**

 **KidChaos69: Maybe, as for a traveling companion, he will not have one.**

 **SI-Paul's Pokemon Team: (On hand)**

Chimchar (M) Ability: Blaze. Moves: Ember, Flame Wheel, Scratch, Dig

Elekid (M) Ability: Static. Moves: Thunder, Protect, Brick Break, Thunder Punch

Croagunk (M) Ability: Anticipation. Moves: Poison Jab, Poison Sting, Brick Break


End file.
